Darren.

Terrible hit.

Am I the only one feeling this way? 😂

I'd put a heart on every single post here. Happy Thanksgiving, all! Some amazing food today. Great to see family. Congrats to all the Cowboys fans. You beat the Giants. 😶 Here's to a great remainder of 2024 for fishing to all. Right there with ya! Got me tonight, too. And funny thing, ordered on TW using my BPS card. Hoping the wife doesn't check too closely.

Welcome aboard! Rod and reel selection can border on a religious argument. Find what will work for you, the bait monkey will have his way with you regardless . I'm one who prefers rods 6'6" and under. I also fish 1000 size Stradics for fresh and salt. Caught plenty of bass over 6 pounds (the one in my avatar is 6 pounds 6 oz) on them. Avatar was caught on a 5'9" Shimano Compre rod and a Stradic 1000 FI. No problemo, and was in sticks, too. I use braid for mainline and always tie on a leader of fluoro, or a copoly which saves cutting into the mainline. Daiwa makes some mighty fine gear, hard to go wrong there. I think your selections are fine.

Nice story and catch!

Yikes! Speedy recovery to both of you!

Welcome aboard, Michael! Wishing the best for your treatment! May you find endless joy in fishing.

Never caught on a Sluggo. Back when I lived in WNY, a buddy took me fishing at a small, private lake his folks lived at. He said Sluggo weightless is the greatest bait and will catch monsters there. We were skunked. Since then I've tried a few times, but zilch. I wonder if they would do well in saltwater...hmmm.

I will welcome you aboard. Great name ! Have a gander at the articles offered on this site. Some really great advice there.

You are correct. My son was not here when I typed it in as a speck. I read this to him just now and he said "Dad...it's a grey trout/weakfish, not a speck." My bad. LOL. What can I say, I'm mostly a freshwater guy. Both have the fangs, tho.

It is just a lot of fun to go after a sport fish that can get big in size - and is a treasured catch for so many. I don't like the tournament scene much, anymore than I would try the disc golf tournament scene, or mountain biking. I just prefer the enjoyment w/o stress of competition with others. Needing to one-up everybody else - for me - is not much of a good time. Just my .02...or .01. Other species are great, and can be a lot of fun. I am spending time with my sons who love to do the saltwater thing. There are *so* many species out there and just wetting a line, feeling the pull of a fish on the other end and guessing what it is, to me, is part of the enjoyment. I fish because it is fun, challenging, and enjoyable.

Welcome aboard! 🤙

Went out on the creek last night with son #3 in his jon boat. Tide was going out, caught several species: perch, speckled trout, Reds.

That is an awful experience. I actually caught a nice bass last week and while I was netting it, my son nearby asked me what the splash was, I looked down and my rod was not where I set it. Had my old Stradic FI on it, and we were lucky to fish it out of the reservoir since we anchored there and kept dropping rigs until we hooked something. Was an awful feeling I may never see it again. Thankfully my son hooked onto the cork handle (barely) and brought it up from the murky depths.

Welcome back to the forum!

Thought I'd throw these in here for reference. Both 1000 size. The CI4+ is today's Vanford, so I guess I can say I have one .

Between my Stradic CI4+ and my Stradic HGFK the CI4+ is slightly smoother, and lighter. But both are darn smooth. Does that warrant the price difference? Probably not. Excellent reels any way you slice it.

All I know is I'm grateful I can't afford one. Life is better when I'm only buying baits and not reels to replace my already good CI4+, and other Stradics. But all the vids I have watched, the Vanford is *sooo* nice. That said *cough cough* if I WERE to get one, I think I'd go for the 2000 or 3000 HGFA. The reels are smaller these days, and I've long been a fan and user of 1000 size Shimanos. So I think those would be very close to preferable for fresh and salt. For me.

Went out with son #2 this weekend, Friday night saltwater, Saturday freshwater. Flounder (pic), about a 3 pound red, unfortunately no pic that was good. Saturday I caught 5 bass and this lovely crappie. 2 bass over 2 pounds, the rest under. Keitech micro-finess jigs and a TRD on a drop.

At least it was floating ... and not attached to a body part. LOL

Lions look like the NFC team most likely headed to the SB. Open for grabs in the AFC. I'm just glad my Bills Squished the Fish! (yeah, dolphins are mammals, but Mash the Mammals doesn't work well). Go Bills!

Welcome aboard! Don't believe I had a 33, but I have had a number of closed face reels over the years. Favs were probably the underspin models. I've still got a number of them, haven't used in *years*, but they were fun and simple. These Abu Garcias were fun. My sons used them when they were much younger.

Welcome aboard! 🤙

Welcome aboard! 🤙

Go Bills! We have to be better in first halfs! Can't have a half like that against the better teams and expect to win. Love the addition of Cooper, and Keon had some fantastic catches/runs.